In this age of the Internet and burgeoning technology, the high-touch often is overshadowed by the high-tech. Far from being obsolete, however, social-service organizations are more important than ever, as are the agents who arrange their insurance coverage and safeguard their financial resources. In this article, we'll discuss how we help social-service agencies and other nonprofit entities assess their coverage needs, enabling them to continue their valuable services to their communities.

Our agency is licensed in 45 states and writes more than 3,000 real estate, sports liability and nonprofit accounts, but our specialty is social-service organizations. We first entered the niche by developing a program of risk-management procedures and insurance for a national nonprofit organization. After about six months, we started receiving referrals from its parent organizations, including several government-sponsored entities. (Thousands of social-service organizations begin life as part of a government entity and then, after they've grown large enough, are spun off as independent nonprofit entities.)

Now, our typical nonprofit insured is an organization that employs 10 people and performs some type of human-services function. One of our largest accounts is the United Planning Organization, originally a social-service agency for the District of Columbia that now serves as an umbrella for many other privatized nonprofit entities. Other past and present clients include some Meals on Wheels chapters, the NAACP, research organizations and financial-grant organizations.